Robert P. Hoyt* and Chauncey Uphoff†
* President, CEO, & Chief Engineer,
Tethers Unlimited, Inc., Seattle, Washington 98125-3236 USA
† Chauncey Uphoff , Chief Scientist
Fortune Eight Aerospace, Niwot, Colorado 80544 USA
The Skyhook Industries cardio-rotovator has a quadruple-redundant design. Made of 64 interwoven strands of Kevlar at roughly $1 per kilogram, this tapered symmetrical tether has a central hub orbiting at 1/3 Earth radius in height.
The Skyhook interacts with the Earth's magnetic field to provide propulsion. Each time momentum is given to a payload the Skyhook will boost its orbit electrically. This provides propellant-less station-keeping.
The killer feature is a spider-like grabber of 3D-printed aramid segments roughly 67 meters long. It can shield the tether during re-entry, dissipate energy by curling and straightening.
The first 4.3 kilometer (2.7 mile) long Kevlar Skyhook Tether launch-ready by this date or sooner.
The second 85 kilometer (52.8 mile) long Kevlar Skyhook Tether launch-ready by this date or sooner.
The third 850.4 kilometer (528.4 mile) long Kevlar Skyhook Tether launch-ready by this date or sooner.
The fully operational 4,252 kilometer (2,642.1 mile) long Kevlar Skyhook Tether launch-ready by this date or sooner.